Change in Work–Time Control and Work–Home Interference Among Swedish Working Men and Women: Findings from the SLOSH Cohort Study

Abstract

PurposeThe aim is to study the influence of change in work–time control (WTC) on work–home interference (WHI) while adjusting for other work-related factors, demographics, changes at work and WHI at baseline among women and men. An additional aim was to explore sex differences in the relation between change in WTC and WHI.MethodsThe study included working participants of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) study of the third (2010) and fourth (2012) waves (n = 5440). Based on a seven-item index, four groups of WTC were formed: stable high (40 %), stable low (42 %), increasing (9 %), or decreasing (9 %) WTC over the 2 years. WHI was measured by four items and individuals were categorised in whether suffering or not suffering of WHI. Sex-stratified logistic regression analyses with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate the odds of experiencing WHI by change in WTC.ResultsControlling for demographics and work-related factors, women with stable low (OR = 1.46; 95 % CI 1.14–1.88) and women and men with decreasing WTC (women OR = 1.99; 95 % CI 1.38–2.85; men OR = 1.80; 95 % CI 1.18–2.73) had higher odds of WHI than those with a stable high WTC. Additionally, adjusting for changes at work and WHI at baseline did not alter the results substantially. Interaction analysis did not reveal any significant sex difference in the relation between WTC and WHI.ConclusionsFor both women and men decreased and for women only, low control over working hours resulted in WHI also after adjusting for work-related factors and demographics.

Does work-personal life interference predict turnover among male and female managers, and do depressive symptoms mediate the association? A longitudinal study based on a Swedish cohort

“…The fact that the work-personal interference scale is focused on an aspired personal life, things one would like to do, and one’s personal needs, rather than family and household obligations, could be an explanation. The results thus support previous research suggesting that women are more likely to neglect personal needs due to work [ 32 ] and stay longer in unfavourable work situations [ 5 ]. Although it has been reported in previous research on the same study population as the present one that approximately the same proportion of women and men (12–13%) are promoted to a higher position between SLOSH waves, [ 43 , 44 ] it cannot be ruled out that the women who have chosen to take on a managerial role are a more selected group than the men who have done so.…”

“…For the multilevel structural equation models four statements (“I come home too tired to do things I would like to do”, “My personal life suffers because of my work”, “My job makes it difficult to maintain the kind of personal life I would like”, and “I often neglect my personal needs because of the demands of my work”) were used as indicators for the latent variable work-personal life interference. The indicators were analyzed as continuous variables and the five response alternatives ranged from 1, “not at all” to 5, “almost all the time” [ 17 , 32 ]. To provide the reader with information on the level of work-personal life interference in the study sample (see Table 1 ) a mean index score was calculated by summing up the values of each indicator and dividing by the number of indicators (Cronbach’s alpha 0.89).…”

Are long working hours associated with weight‐related outcomes? A meta‐analysis of observational studies

“…There is a growing awareness that working long hours could be harmful to health and legislation to limit work time has been implemented in many organizations and countries; however, overtime work cannot be fully avoided . For example, employers increasingly offer flexible work‐time arrangements, and time of work at home was hard to estimate. We did not investigate whether these individuals worked beyond the standard work time.…”

Control dimensions, job demands and job satisfaction: does ownership matter?

“…Another control dimension includes work-time control, which refers to employee possibilities to have a say regarding the start and ending of working days, breaks, holidays and scheduling of work shifts. Much of the existing empirical research investigates work-time control as related to effects of shift work but with increasing flexibility in working life there is a growing interest in work-time control among other groups to, for instance in investigating effects on work-home interference (Ala-Mursula et al, 2002;Leineweber et al, 2016). While most research has included aggregate control conceptualizations, such as decision authority, or focused on work-time control, more fine-grained analyses have included interactions between control and support to reflect control at different levels.…”